Help out a noob with fermentation worries

So last Saturday I brewed an old ale. The OG was about 1.090 or so. I pitched a packet of US05 and aerated the hell out of it. I was expecting a lively fermentation and even contemplated using a blowoff tube instead of an airlock, but decided to just watch it closely and see what happened.

Well, nothing happened. After about 3 days, I had not seen a single bubble in the airlock. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything. So I wasn't too worried. I could smell it fermenting in the closet and if I pushed down gently on the bucket lid, bubbles would come up through the airlock. So I knew it was doing something.

By Wednesday, I couldn't take it anymore and had to peek. Sure enough, there was krausen, but not as much as I had seen in lower gravity ales I have brewed. So that also worried me.

Today, I decided to take a sample. The krausen was all gone. The beer smelled great. No off odors at all that I could detect. The gravity was about 1.027. I tasted it and while it wasn't bad...it wasn't good either. I've never tasted a half-done beer like this so, I'm not really sure what it should taste like. It was still a little sweet, but it sorta tasted like beer.

Oh.... as for the temp, it's been pretty consistent between 64-67 the whole time in the closet I have kept it in.

I was/am worried that I underpitched. Should I be able to detect the funkiness that underpitching can cause by now if it's going to happen? Also, I assume it will continue to ferment and the gravity will go down some more in the next couple weeks. Does going from 1.090 to 1.027 in a week sound about right? This is the first time I've taken a reading this early before and I'm not sure if that is too high for this stage in fermentation.

Sounds to me like you have "expectations" of how your beer is supposed to act, and you're stressing out because it's not acting to your expectation. "Not enough krausen, too much of this, not at my time frame."

The problem is not that there's anything wrong, in fact it sounds like everything's progressing hunky dory, the problem is that you are imposing your expectations on the beer, instead of trusting the yeast to do their jobs, and acknowledge the wildcard factor that you get with living micro-organisms.

I find that my beer behaves just fine whether I try to expect it to behave a certain way or not...And I find that I worry less, if I just pitch my yeast and walk away, and not expect the airlock or the amount of krausen or the timeframe to behave according to me.

I realized that I'm not the boss of this, the yeast are, and they have their own timeframe, their own agenda, and ways of doing things.

There is nothing "typical" in brewing...every fermentation is different, and should not be used to compare one with another...you can't do that.

No two fermentations are ever exactly the same.

When we are dealing with living creatures, there is a wild card factor in play..Just like with other animals, including humans...No two behave the same.

You can split a batch in half put them in 2 identical carboys, and pitch equal amounts of yeast from the same starter...and have them act completely differently...for some reason on a subatomic level...think about it...yeasties are small...1 degree difference in temp to us, could be a 50 degree difference to them...one fermenter can be a couple degrees warmer because it's closer to a vent all the way across the room and the yeasties take off...

Someone, Grinder I think posted a pic once of 2 carboys touching each other, and one one of the carboys the krausen had formed only on the side that touched the other carboy...probably reacting to the heat of the first fermentation....but it was like symbiotic or something...


Yeasts are like teenagers, swmbos, and humans in general, they have their own individual way of doing things.

When you brew enough, you'll understand.

There's nothing wrong with your beer being at 1.030 a week after you pitched yeast in a 1.090 beer. It's a big beer, and if it's got extract in it, it may not finish much lower.

I would give the fermetner a GENTLE swirl to re-rouse the yeast and toss a blanket on it to warm it up and check on it in a week.

If you have more yeast you could pitch some more. Mr Malty does say you could add another half pack of yeast to it.

I think you have a leak in the bucket lid. If you smell it then it has to be coming out somewhere.

Revvy said:

If you have more yeast you could pitch some more. Mr Malty does say you could add another half pack of yeast to it.

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I have an extra packet of 05 in the fridge. Would it probably be best to toss half of it in today? Should I give it a slight stir, or just pitch and walk away?

Thanks!

MisterOJ said:

I have an extra packet of 05 in the fridge. Would it probably be best to toss half of it in today? Should I give it a slight stir, or just pitch and walk away?

Thanks!

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DON'T STIR.

At this point there is more beer than not in there, and oxygen is a risk. Just put it in the fermenter, and seal it, the yeast know what they're doing.

Thanks Revvy.

One more noob question: Since I just pitched half a packet of dry yeast, how long is the other half good for? I folded over the packet two or three times then taped it closed and put it back in the fridge. Should I use this fairly soon, or will it keep a while?

The instructions on US-05, I believe , say to use with 7 days of opening, but I would think you'd be good a little longer. I've held dry yeast in the fridge for 2 weeks between brewing days and not had any noticeable problems.